Adventures in Teaching

Teachers have always preferred academically gifted students who do neat work, read a book a week, behave in class and quietly absorb everything in the curriculum. That makes teaching easy and teachers appreciate that. They can stick with the “one size fits all” curriculum and not worry about having to explain how to do Common Core math.

 

When K-12 teachers have a class with all gifted students, that’s the best deal they can get. But invariably, they will have some students who are not as academically gifted and they will fall behind. Teachers have procedures for getting these students on track, but that requires that the student are motivated to become gifted students. It’s a decision the students need to make for themselves and they somehow need to convince themselves that they are capable, it will be fun and it is necessary to ensure that they will be able to function as adults. Many of these “ungifted” students are smart and could become “gifted” if they wanted to, but they prefer to be distracted with things they prefer to do, like play with their friends.

 

The current K-12 curriculum includes frequent projects that requires the student to give a verbal book report with home-made visual aids.  It also involves the ability to read and understand painstakingly complex instructions. It also involves Common Core math.  This usually gets the parents involved to help with projects, figuring out what the instructions say, figuring out how to do Common Core math, checking all homework and ensuring that deadlines are met.

 

In schools with few gifted students, teachers have to adapt to battlefield conditions. These are schools with high “drop-out” rates and lots of summer school sessions. The processes they use in schools with mostly gifted students don’t work. Projects, instructions and homework need to be simplified. The “one-size-fits-all” approach doesn’t work, but is usually required by State Law.

 

The goal of education is to produce adults who can function. Students will need to know how to read and understand what they read. Students will need to know how to manage their money. Students will need to develop the ability to learn whatever trade or vocation they choose to make a living that allows them to be economically self-sufficient. If they are lucky, they will choose jobs they will do well and enjoy doing.

 

The advantage for Homeschooling is that the parent is the teacher and the schoolhouse is at home and this saves a lot of time. K-12 school from 8am to 3pm consumes 7 hours a day.  Homeschoolers can complete the same material in 3 hours and have time to choose what they actually want to learn to do. It doesn’t take long for homeschoolers to test 1 or 2 grades ahead of their age group. Once they are ahead, they are motivated to stay ahead. The Homeschool curriculum includes the same reading, writing, math and science required by State law, but students are “tutored”, not classroom taught and the Homeschooling parent selects to curriculum material.  Students can actually see the curriculum and ask questions at will rather than being a silent member of the easily distracted “audience”. Regular school trains students to become unquestioning sponges.  

 

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader